A Beautiful Sight...

 

It's no secret that we had a long, cold winter. We had some concern that we might not have much of an apple crop this year.

 

Well, well, well...just looky here! These blooms tell a different story :) Every tree bloomed its little heart out. Just goes to show, what do we know about anything? Nature, if anything, is always surprising.

 

 

 

 

When I left for a trip to Florida earlier this month, the trees were barren in the still cold and drizzly Ohio climate, despite being early May. Winter just did not want to give in.

Gazing upon these fragrant blooms the morning after I returned gave me a sense of what Dorothy must have felt like when she opened her farmhouse door and stepped into the Technicolor world of Oz.

 

 

This lovely poem by Susan Kelly-Dewitt expresses how wonderful it is to see blossoms after a long winter:

 http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/247180

 

Apple Blossoms

BY SUSAN KELLY-DEWITT

One evening in winter

when nothing has been enough,

when the days are too short,

 

the nights too long

and cheerless, the secret

and docile buds of the apple

 

blossoms begin their quick

ascent to light. Night

after interminable night

the sugars pucker and swell

into green slips, green

silks. And just as you find

yourself at the end

of winter’s long, cold

rope, the blossoms open

like pink thimbles

and that black dollop

of shine called

 

bumblebee stumbles in.

 

 

Marcheta *stumbling in



Last Apple Standing

Today Jim picked the last of the apples, putting an end to his orchard work for this season (and what a long haul it's been!)

We've got about four bushels left that I am working on storing for our own use, so for me the saga continues.

While fixing lunch I did up half a peck of Golden Delicious into applesauce. This batch did not make it to the freezer as we ate it hot (with butter and cinnamon) and I put the rest in the fridge.

I also cleared out veggie drawers in the fridge to store as many eating apples as I can fit into them. 

In looking for different ways to make apple crisp, I found this one at allrcipes.com, which I have copied and pasted below. I love the All Recipes website because of the ease in printing the recipes.

Marcheta *searcher

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 pinch salt

1/2 cup butter, cut into pieces

1 cup chopped walnuts 

 

1/3 cup white sugar, or to taste

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

6 cups apples - peeled, cored and

chopped

2 tablespoons lemon juice 

Directions:

1. Mix flour, brown sugar, 1/2 cup of white sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together in a bowl. Combine butter with the flour mixture using fingers or a fork until coarse crumbs form. Stir in walnuts and set aside. 

2. Whisk together 1/3 cup sugar, cornstarch, ginger, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Place the apples in a slow cooker, stir in the cornstarch mixture; toss with lemon juice. Sprinkle the walnut crumb topping on top. Cover and cook on High for 2 hours or Low for 4 hours, until apples are tender. Partially uncover the slow cooker to allow the topping to harden, about 1 hour. 

Making Apple Cider, Part 1

 

Apple cider is a pure drink that has only one thing listed on the ingredient label: apples.

Lots of apples.

It takes a full bushel of apples to make three gallons of cider.

Lots of different kinds of apples.

Each apple variety lends its own special characteristic and flavor to the cider. At least three different types of apples are needed to get a good tasting blend.

The apple cider making process begins in the orchard, of course. Apples for cider are usually the ones that are not "pretty" enough or large enough to sell for eating/baking/cooking. After picking apples, we sort the ones for cider into old-fashioned wood crates, which we are slowly replacing with modern plastic crates as we find them at reasonable costs.

Why? After all, the wood crates work just fine and lend a traditional touch to this very traditional practice of making cider. Plastic crates are lighter weight, which is a huge plus for the person loading 30 or more crates of apples. The plastic crates are much easier to clean, and they stack perfectly on each other. And, the big bonus is that the plastic crates are standardized to hold four 1 gallon jugs or nine 1/2 gallon jugs. These factors add up to making transport and delivery much easier. Who wouldn't go for that? But still, I do like our wooden crates...some have been in service to us for 40 years. Can you believe that? I am amazed each time that I realized that 40 decades have passed since Jim and I said "I do" on September 22, 1973!

On a brisk September morning under a brilliant blue sky, Jim and I loaded up a pick-up truck with 30 bushels of apples, using both wooden and plastic crates as well as a few bushel baskets and even several feed sacks stuffed full of apples. Folks, let me tell you, that is a job in itself, apples not exactly being light-weight :)

The apples that went into this batch of cider were Cortland, Jonathan, Golden Delicious, and Red Delicious.

The next step in the process is the drive to the cider mill. State requirements for selling apple cider have resulted in many small cider mills going out of business. To sell cider, it has to either be pasteurized or treated with UV light, which kills e-coli and 5 other pathogens by skipping the boiling process. Boiling does affect the taste of cider, so we opt for UV, which keeps the cider "alive". 

Gone are the days when we could have several choices of having the apples "pressed" at mills within a few miles of our orchard. Now we must venture to Huron County, Ohio, to a state approved facility owned by the Meyer family. The drive takes a little over an hour through scenic Ohio countryside, so I don't mind it too much.

By the time we arrived a the mill, the sky was filling up with clouds and the air took a turn for the colder, which is perfect for making cider, as heat is its enemy. 

We backed our truck to the receiving area, where our apples were off-loaded from our truck and put in huge bins fitted for fork-lift machines. The one used for our cider was man-powered. 

In this picture, Jim and Anthony Meyers, owner of the mill, move our apples into the massive crate. 

Already a lot of work (months of taking care of the orchard, picking, and sorting apples, loading them and trucking to the mill, unloading the multi-colored fruit into the huge bin) has gone into making the cider. But the journey has just begun. Stay tuned to this blog for Part II tomorrow's juicy details :)

Marcheta *detailer

Harvest Season has Begun!

Just a couple of short months ago I published pics of the orchard in bloom. In just a few short weeks, we'll be filling crates with fruit. In fact, we've already harvested and sold out of our Lodi and Yellow Transparent apples. 

Next on the agenda are sweet red pears and Wealthy apples. Of all the things that go on around here, the orchard is what I am most involved in. During harvest my focus moves from writing and photography to harvesting, preserving, and selling tree fruit. Having two great farmers markets really helps in the selling department!

The brochure with our apple and pear varieties and their uses is almost done. Before, I included separate information handouts for each type. This way, I will have all the information in one document, which will also let people know when certain varieties become ready to harvest. 

Today is Sunday, though, and I am giving all of this a rest :) 

Marcheta *relaxin' 

Answers.

In just a couple of months these delicate blooms will have become full-blown fruit. I am especially hoping that the plum trees do well. We seem to keep losing the trees before they become good bearers. :(

This picture is of part of the orchard, as seen from a second story window. Pear trees are located in another area and are twice as tall.


 

Here are the answers to yesterday's quiz:

1. Peach

2. Apple

3. Plum

4. Pear

5. Apricot


How did you do? I know, I know! The peach and apricot blooms look almost the same...not quit a "trick question" but still....

Marcheta *now you know

Apple Quest

Orchard work is more than going out and picking fruit when it has magically ripen. It is a journey that has many adventures along the way, from late winter-pruning, spring blossoming, summer mowing, a few sprays here and there, and...finally...wonderful, delicious fruit. Of all farm-related work, I cannot think of any that I'd rather be doing :)

This week, Jim is taking the first steps on that journey by giving each tree a major "haircut". Last year at this time, our apple trees were budding out. This year, Jim has to bundle up in his warmest overalls when he goes out to prune the trees. Go figure.

Actually, this time of year cold weather is better than warm temps that come too early because usually a cold snap will follow and kill the young buds. For some reason, last season a freeze did not affect our  budded trees and we had a bumper crop, when most orchards had very little, if any, harvest.



Today, the Spring Equinox, I have a pork roast, from Rus-Men Naturally Raised Meats in the slow cooker. My plan is serve it with mashed potatoes and the sauerkraut left over from Monday's Reuben sandwiches. I don't want to heat up the oven, so what better dessert to go with this meal than easy, microwaved baked apples?

Oh, wow! The sun, which has been fighting clouds for several days and is demanding equal time in the sky just won a battle. The sky has blue patches and the clouds are white and fluffy.

Marcheta *Energized

Microwave Baked Apples

1. Core 2 apples, leaving the bottom intact.
2. In a bowl, mix 2 T. brown sugar, 1 t. cinnamon and 1 t. nutmeg. Spoon the sugar mixture into the apples and set a teaspoon (or more to your taste) of butter on top of each apple. Place the apples in a deep casserole dish and cover.
3. Microwave for 3 1/2 to 4 minutes or until tender. Let the apples sit for a couple minutes before serving.

Note:  Golden Delicious, Ida Red and Jonathan are apple varieties that we grow that I like for baking. For more info on what apples are good for baking, check out this article at Midwest Living's website.